


To Everything There Is A Season

by aleksrothis



Series: The World Keeps Turning [4]
Category: Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Gen, S3.03 Benediction spoilers, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 06:34:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6843139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aleksrothis/pseuds/aleksrothis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:<br/>A time to be born, and a time to die..."</p><p>What goes through Ben's mind when he goes after Worthington and comes face to face with a familiar foe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Everything There Is A Season

**Author's Note:**

> So, I am working on a sequel to Turning Points loosely following the events of S3 but it is going to be from Arnold's POV. However, Seth's expressions during these scenes in S3.03 broke my heart so I had to write this side piece from Ben's perspective.

With the decision made to kill Worthington, Ben spends several days attending the man's sermons and watching him from a distance, looking for an opportunity.

When he hears Worthington will be leaving camp, he knows his chance has come. He dutifully offers the reverend an escort, in part to establish that he was warned of the dangers on the road when he doesn’t return but also to give him an opportunity to change his mind. Whatever he said to General Washington, the thought of killing a minister doesn’t rest easy on him.

He doesn't know what he expected but it wasn't for Worthington to pretend to familiarity, calling him 'son.' He has to clench his jaw to cover up the response he wants to give. How dare he? His own father is a minister and a true Patriot whilst this bastard is using his status to peddle treachery. He leaves Worthington to his final service and goes to his own tent.

Ben changes out of his officer's uniform into something less distinctive, aware that he is heading into no man's land. Worthington isn't the only one leaving camp and he wants to look like any other militia man if by chance he is spotted by the reverend or anyone else who might connect them. He mounts his horse and follows at a distance, letting him out of sight once he has his trail; so long as Worthington has kept to the main paths he should be able to track him. 

He wishes Caleb was there to back him up. He can deal with the reverend alone if he has too but he wasn't lying when he said the scouting reports had warned of Tory patrols roaming the unclaimed routes. In Caleb's absence he has given Pol messages to pass onto his father, to Arnold if he doesn't return, though he has no attention of letting that happen.

When the reverend's tracks leave the path, Ben ties up his horse and cautiously makes the way closer on foot, drawing his pistol. If the reverend is meeting a contact he doesn't want to give away his presence too soon. Fortunately, he finds him leaving a note in a dead drop and his shock at being uncovered seems real. Ben makes him read his treacherous note aloud, asks him what he hopes to gain. The man dares to claim he was acting in good faith, for the sake of the men, as though giving the British information on their movements won't lead to more deaths.

Ben is shaking with anger and, though he had planned something more subtle, when Worthington insults Washington he has gone too far. Ben pulls the trigger, satisfied with the look on the reverend's face when he realizes he isn't going to be able to talk his way out of this after all.

The ground here is marshy and he scouts it out, looking for a good place to leave the body. They are not far from a small lake and he drags the body to its edge. The light is starting to fade and he wants to be as far away as possible before he makes camp.

Worthington had to die but that knowledge doesn't stop the guilt coiling around his gut as he searches the reverend's corpse, finds his crucifix but nothing else incriminating. Wanting to be sure the body sinks he wades out a little way with it, leaving his pistol on the shore to keep the powder dry.

He realizes his mistake when he hears, "That's no way to treat a man of God, Tallmadge." He recognizes the voice, spins around with a feeling of dread, and sees André's man, Gamble. He feels a wave of anger as he remembers finding Sackett’s body on the floor of his tent.

Ben considers the distance to the shore. He can see his pistol, could lunge for it but would he reach it before Gamble has time to shoot him? Gamble sees him look and raises his gun, pointing it directly at him. The threat is clear and Ben slowly raises his hands. He knows he could make a kill shot at this range but he doesn't know how good Gamble is with a pistol.

He acknowledges the man, who seems slightly surprised but unconcerned as he taunts him about Shanks. He admits he had been there to meet Worthington, though he claims it would have been their first meeting. Ben doesn't know whether to believe him or not, but he doesn't suppose it matters now. He struggles to keep his breathing even; panic will not help him now. Still, at least he can throw them off Culper's scent, lets Gamble think he had detected the reverend's perfidy himself.

He considers the merits of trying to escape across the lake. The water is cool but hardly freezing unlike his dip into the Delaware. He is a passable swimmer and, though his clothes would weigh him down they're not an impossible barrier. He is defenceless though, would have to count on Gamble being a bad shot, and then he would be lost and on his own without a weapon or any supplies.

Gamble directs him to move to the shore several feet short of where his bag and pistol lie. He is very aware of the weapon pointing at him as he reluctanctly follows his instructions. He feels sick but perhaps Gamble doesn't intend to kill him - if he did, why not leave him where his body would join Worthington's under water? Then again, perhaps he wants proof of his death for Andre. 

He reaches the water's edge, is very conscious of the weight of his wet clothes and how they will slow him down if he gets a chance to act but Gamble just tells him to turn around. He swallows hard, refuses to let him see his fear but his hands shake as he does as instructed. He grits his teeth so as not to let any pleas cross his lips, dropping to his knees in the shallow water. He holds his head up high, fights back tears. 

If this is going to be the end of him, he will bear it well. He sends a silent apology to Caleb, to Benedict; it seems Pol will be delivering those letters after all. As he hears Gamble's footsteps come closer, he prays.

Gamble pauses and Ben takes a deep breath, makes one last effort at appealing to the man to treat him as a prisoner, though he doubts it will do any good. He doesn't even get to finish his sentence before he registers a crashing pain across the back of his skull. His last conscious thought, as the water comes up to meet him, was that it hadn't been a gunshot.

***

He is still surprised to wake, head pounding. It takes a moment to orientate himself, work past the instinctive panic at finding himself a prisoner. His wrists are bound tightly but his ankles are not and he has been unceremoniously slung across a horse, a grey, not his bay or the reverend's chestnut so it must be Gamble's own.

His eyes start to adjust and he can tell it is night time. It takes a few moments to determine that they are not moving, given the way his head is spinning, his vision blurred. The rushing in his ears where he is half upside down resolves into the crackling of a fire and, as his sight clears, he can make out Gamble seated on the opposite side of a small camp fire.

Ben feels sick when Gamble tells him he is taking him to André. It is clear that he is not to be treated as an officer though Gamble's comments offer some hope that he has not done a thorough search. At least they are on neutral ground so they would struggle to accuse him of spying, and besides Gamble is out of uniform too.

He cannot allow himself to be taken all the way to André, his secret would be revealed in fairly short order there, even if Gamble doesn't work it out but he has limited options. He tries to provoke the man into killing him and he responds by taunting him with Sackett's death. Still it is his next words that make his blood run cold, what will happen after André is done with him. There are plenty of things worse than death. 

The horse shifts under him and when he looks its reins are trailing loose. Has Gamble really left him such an obvious opportunity? He waits until the man is distracting, looking away then spurs the horse into motion. He is unbalanced but he has been riding for years and it isn't so difficult to keep himself on its back. He sees Gamble raise his gun and fire. He suspects he is aiming for the horse, since he has made it clear he intends to take Ben back alive, but whether deliberate or not pain burns through his side.

He manages to hang on for precious minutes as the horse crashes through the forest. They are leaving a trail anyone could follow in daylight but hopefully he will be long out of Gamble’s reach by then. Eventually though, the twisting pain overwhelms him and he loses his balance. Ben hits the ground hard but, though there are black spots at the edge of his vision, he doesn't pass out. 

He can't spare the time to catch his breath, forces himself to his feet, moving away from the trail the horse has left. When he presses a hand to his side it comes away bloody but he daren’t stop to check it. He can still walk, even if the pain bites deeper with every step, so he keeps going. He loses track on time, focusing simply on putting one foot in front of the other. He has to get… somewhere...

**Author's Note:**

> The title is a reference to the hymn Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) - which is taken from Ecclesiastes, as with the verse Worthington quotes in S3.02.


End file.
